Friday, June 25, 2004

Feeling Better

I joined a writer's group called "Evolution", which has a nifty feature in their message board. You get 'pips' for your accomplishments, which are small icons that show in your signature and are a lot like the merit badges we used to get in girl scouts. I always liked getting merit badges.

I made some small progress on PI, only a couple hundred words, but every bit makes a difference.

I keep getting ideas for romance novels and I just keep jotting them down. I've been reading 'how to write a romance novel' books and I think I've got my mind around the concepts.

I tried to render the last third of Levitation last night, but found a place I wanted to adjust and cancelled the 10 hour process after the 5th hour. I'll try to do it again tonight.

Thursday, June 24, 2004

Yesterday

I rendered the middle section of Levitation, but had trouble with the last section.

I managed to scrap out about 1/4th of the word count I need for the current section of PI that I'm working on. I've decided that everytime I think, "I hate my day job." that I should write 1 sentence. I should get through it quick that way!

Monday, June 21, 2004

Encouraging Thought

I was reading the eHarlequin.com website and they have the "top ten reasons for writing for..." various lines of romance novels. One of the reasons for the romantic suspense line is that prolific writers can have many titles published a year, including series.

The whole Harlequin website has lots of workshops and other helpful items for wanna-be romance novelists. That makes me think they are 'hungry' for more material. Which makes me think they are a good place to break-in and maybe build a career.

Sunday, June 20, 2004

Chapter 5

The revisions for Chapter 5 of Complimentary Murder have been entered. The revisions for Chapter 6 have been begun.

First I am going to write the next section of Psionics Institutes.

Then I am going to read the first 4 chapters and my notes, then double check chapter 5, and finally finish Chapter 6's revisions.

Once that is done I am going to alternate between sections for PI and two new chapters I need to write for CM.

Of course, I'll also be fitting in time to get my computer to spit out Levitation in a decent form.

Ah, A Day To Work

I have had a quiet day, which I have been putting to good use. I typed up the section I wrote a while back for Psionics Institutes, and discovered than 4 tighly handwritten pages translates into about 2000 words, which is how long each section must be.

I have begun typing in the old changes I made to Chapter 5 of Complimentary Murder. I think that besides Levitation and Psionics Institutes, both which are on deadlines, that I will just concentrate on Complimentary Murder.

So PSI Emergency, which need rewriting, and All Night Long, which is only a few pages into the first draft are on the back burner for now, along with screenwriting.

I have been alternating between typing and surfing the website at eHarlequin.com to read their writing advice and guidelines. That has been my 'reward' for working on the typing chores. I find I have to work in baby steps and give myself little rewards when I am in a cluttered state of mind.

Computer Problems

I am having trouble with the software on my computer which is making the final film of Levitation difficult to render. It has take several days to reach the conclusion that I'll need to render it in sections and then put it together and rerender it as a whole. This is a pain in the ass and can cause the quality to degrade somewhat.